Afghan six: Commanding officer speaks at inquest

The commanding officer of the six soldiers killed when their armoured fighting vehicle was blown up by a Taliban bomb has said he had no doubts about sending out the patrol as light faded at dusk.

The patrol had been due to leave the base in Lashkar Gar, in Afghanistan earlier in the afternoon, but it was delayed by a sandstorm. At the inquest into the troops' death, Major Edward Colver was asked if he was at all worried about sending out the patrol at dusk

He replied: "I was extremely confident that it was the right thing to do." Other soldiers who were on the patrol in a second armoured vehicle have told the hearing that they had no concerns about going out at dusk.